Return of the Gray Ghost
by jacee2u
Summary: Something that hit me in the middle of the night. What would happen if Percy had died mid Book 6, after marrying Penelope. Arthur became the Gray Ghost when Fabian and Gideon Prewitt died. Who would step up for Clan Weasley now?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people. Good enough?

The Return of the Gray Ghost

Gone.

He was gone, and she couldn't believe it.

Percy, HER Percy, was gone. And it was her fault.

Oh, she knew it wasn't REALLY her fault, she knew very well that it was those damned Death Eater's fault, and specifically Lucius Malfoy's wand that had cast the Killing Curse on her beloved Percy; but it had been HER idea that they meet Arthur today for lunch to discuss their reuniting with the rest of the Weasley family. Now, while wearing widow's reeds at her husband's funeral, she could not help but think back.

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Percy had been simultaneously shamed and infuriated when the news that Voldemort was back finally came to light. He cursed Minister Fudge, Undersecretary Umbridge, the press, the Wizengamot, the idiots of the Wizarding populace, everyone. But mostly, he had cursed himself. He knew that he had fallen for the same line as everyone else in the Wizarding World, but he knew he shouldn't have.

He knew that Dumbledore might be a bit crazed, but he knew for a fact that Harry Potter was no arrogant, attention-seeking brat. His younger brothers had rescued Harry Potter when he had been starved by his relatives. Later that year, Harry Potter had saved his sister. He still kicked himself that he hadn't even known his only sister had been in trouble. He'd had a hand in saving his father, and had done his best to keep his brother from the cock-up that had happened at the Department of Mysteries. That his stupid brother had followed him anyway only proved to Percy that his brother was a truer fit to his House than he himself was.

Percy Weasley faced himself, and decided he didn't like what he saw. He'd been acting as a Slytherin. He hadn't even been a very good Slytherin. He'd eaten up every lie the Ministry and the tabloids had put out, just like a good little sheeple. He'd been had, and he had no one to blame but himself.

Percy then did what a large percentage of people that find themselves in this position did. He walked into a public house and crawled into a bottle. He stayed there until Penelope had showed up some two months later.

She'd dried him out, brought him back to health, and talked to him. They still had issues when they were finished talking, but Percy had taken the first steps back to taking control of his own life.

Shortly after he was dried out, the Wizengamot had, in part used his testimony to ride Cornelius Fudge out of office on a rail. They then put Scrimgeour into office. In an effort to make himself look good to the Wizengamot, the Minister reinstated Percy to his old job. Percy accepted his job back, but was careful in his action.

The old Percy was a "yes man." The new Percy was too, in order to keep up his cover; but kept a diary under a Fidelius charm of everything that he saw, every person that came by, and every new decree that came out. Every weekend, he and Penelope would work out what exactly was going on. Who was lobbying for what laws, who had the ears of which Department heads, and who was running interference for what agenda. With their combined organizational skills, By the time the Minister took Percy to the Burrow as a blatant excuse to try to talk to Harry, they had a list of almost every "contributor" to the Dark Lord's coffers, and, more importantly, the sympathizers within the Ministry.

By that Christmas, Percy and Penelope had also worked through their personal issues, and had become re-engaged, and were planning to be married on New Year's Eve. In late January, Penelope and Percy had requested a meeting with Arthur for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. They were planning to request acceptance back into the family. Percy would give a full apology to each member of the family, and provide all of their information for Arthur to take to the leaders of the Light. Not just the names, everything. Names, dates, actions, and copies of every scrap of proof they had. They wanted the people to know whom they could trust, whom they should watch, and what kind of damage they had done.

The day of the meeting that would reunite the Weasley clan, Diagon Alley was to suffer an attack by the Death Eaters. Percy had tried to fight them, but matching stunners to killing curses was a losing proposition. Percy had been one of a great number of losers that day. The meeting never happened. The information remained at their flat, and no word of it was mentioned.

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Penelope was brought back to the present when she suddenly found herself enveloped in a rib-crushing hug, with her head buried in the massive bosom of her mother-in-law. Molly insisted that she accompany them back to the Burrow. Indeed, Molly insisted that Penelope stay at the Burrow for the next month, at a minimum. Molly wanted, needed to know what her boy had been like for the past two years, and to know the girl that had "won his heart and was trying to bring him back to his family."

Arthur and Molly soon convinced Penelope not to call them "Mr. And Mrs. Weasley," and she managed to call Molly "Mum," easily enough; as her mother had died in childbirth with her, but she couldn't call Arthur "Dad." Her father had disappeared early last year, before the Dark Lord had officially returned, but it was now obvious what had happened to him. They compromised by having her call him "Pop."

After three weeks at the Burrow, Penelope thought she was going to go insane. Molly was nearly inconsolable, and cried and smothered the poor girl, constantly asking questions, tearing open the barely scabbed wounds of Penelope's own grief. Arthur had locked his emotions down in a vise-like grip. He would get home, eat his dinner, and disappear into his shed. Hours later, he would emerge, looking much worse for wear, take a shower, and go to bed.

Early on in the fourth week, Penelope spiked Molly's tea with a calming drought after Arthur had left for his shed. When Molly finally drifted off, Penelope levitated her mother-in-law up the stairs and put her to bed. Penelope cared for the woman, and misery may love company, but Penelope was tired of misery.

She wanted something else. She wanted revenge. She had heard tales from when she was a child, and from the other Weasley boys. She knew whom the twins were named for. She knew what had happened to the last of the Prewitts. She knew that the Death Eaters would piss themselves in the last two years of the first war whenever they saw a gray, high collared, opera cloak. She also knew one of the best-kept secrets in the Wizarding World. She knew the identity of the Gray Ghost, and she knew that right now, he was locked in his shed, trying to get back into shape to remind the Death Eaters why it was never a good idea to attack Clan Weasley.

Penelope walked out to the shed and tried to open the door. It was locked, and no amount of pounding would get Arthur to answer. Finally, Penelope lost her temper, and a blasting curse later, the shed lost its door, its doorjamb, and several square feet of wall. What she saw was five wands pointing back at her, and five very sheepish looking Weasleys. She walked in, repaired the door and walls, and said simply, "I want in."

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Penelope took a seat on a workbench, and stared at Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, waiting for their reply. Fred and George recovered first.

"Don't know what you're –"

"talking about, old girl. We were just –"

"trying to help Dad out –"

"by showing him some of our –"

"latest pranks."

"Oh, please!" Penelope said, sounding disgusted by the transparent lie. "There is a gray, high collared, opera cloak sitting on the bench, with a mask right beside it. Right next to it is Bill's copy of Golinard's, open to the protection schemes; not to mention a set of paints, threads, gems and everything else needed to make it the most enchanted item of apparel this side of the Atlantic. You two goof balls are certainly showing the rest a few things you've come up with, but I doubt very much it is anything less dangerous than a Nundu-in-the-box. And Charlie, it's my guess that since everyone thinks you're still in Romania; you're going to be the new incarnation of the Gray Ghost. The old incarnation here is in the process of passing on his knowledge. Am I correct?"

Fred and George looked at each other and grinned. "I guess that'll teach us –"

"to try to outthink a Ravenclaw, old bean!" They both started to laugh.

"Shut it!" Arthur demanded of the youngest pair in the room. "Now, Penelope. There is a perfectly logical explanation for everything you have seen tonight."

"Oh, really, Pop? This I have got to hear," Penelope said.

"Actually, Dad, I'd kind of like to hear this explanation, myself," Charlie said, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a snicker.

Arthur looked at Penelope, and tried again. "Penelope, I don't know exactly what you are thinking, but I don't think that it is safe for you to mention the Gray Ghost in public. He's got the third highest reward from You-know-who, and second highest from the Ministry."

"Pop, I know it was you in the last war. When Gideon and Fabian were found, Molly went to pieces, just as she is now, and suddenly the Death Eaters had someone they were scared spitless of. Percy told me all about his favorite uncles, and what he found out here when Molly drafted him to clean up the shed once. That cloak, that mask, and that walking stick; all in an old bag hanging from a nail behind this workbench, right?" Penelope smirked at her audience as she reached behind the workbench and lifted up the bag in question.

"Dad, I think the twins are right. She's got us, and there's no way you can talk her out of it. She's nailed us six ways to Sunday." Bill chuckled.

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Arthur knew he was defeated. Penelope had worked out exactly what was going on. At first, Arthur had planned on simply "coming out of retirement," as it were, but Bill and Charlie had sussed out what was going on when Arthur had approached the curse breaker about rebuilding his old cloak. Muriel had put the protections on his first cloak, but she was too old to do the work now. Her hands were too palsied to renew the runes.

At first, Arthur had refused to let his boys in on his plans, but ten minutes into a duel with Charlie made him realize that his reflexes and endurance were those of a middle aged man that had been sitting behind a desk for fifteen years, not a man in his prime. Bill and Charlie had been the ones to convince him to bring in the twins. After all, Charlie had noted; they'd been blowing up things for years. If they were pointed at the enemy, nasty things would happen to people that deserved it.

Charlie had been chosen as his successor, much for the reasons Penelope had given, but also the fact that he had better reflexes and a higher threshold for pain than any of his brothers. Living around dragons was responsible for both of those factors. Slow Dragon handlers or those that didn't handle burns well didn't last long at the preserve. They either were fodder or turned in their leathers rather quickly and limped away.

The twins had come through with some truly nasty products for their use. They had planned on letting the Order use them, but Dumbledore had shied away from anything that might actually hurt their opponents. The twins were almost disgusted enough to leave the Order at that point. It had taken every ounce of Arthur's persuasion to keep them from walking out. That and the fact that Alistor had a 100 Galleon per month standing order for their "toys."

Now, they had been found out, even before they had really begun. Merlin only knew what Molly would say when she found out what was going on. 'Oh, well. Percy's memory would be more than worth sleeping on the couch.'

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"Okay, Penelope. What can you bring to the table?"

"How about information, as well as an extra wand if you need it?"

"What kind of information?" Arthur asked, ignoring the extra wand comment. He and the boys would be in enough danger without throwing this young girl into the shark pool.

"How about six months of tracking information on Death Eaters and their sympathizers in the Ministry, who was interested in what laws being passed, who was pushing for directorship at what times, everything. Percy and I created this list. We were going to give it to you and Dumbledore when he was attacked. I've got sixty confirmed Voldemort sympathizers, and thirty more possibles. A bit of research will confirm or deny them. How's that?"

"How good is your information? Are you sure of it?" Arthur asked. "We're playing for keeps here. Anyone we go after has to be a confirmed Death Eater."

"I don't know if they are marked or not, if that's what you're asking, Pop; but I will be able to guarantee they are working for that son of a bitch." Penelope replied flatly. "If you don't believe me, I can show you the backup information, complete with cross references. If you have any doubts, I'll brew up some polyjuice and a couple of hairs. If it can copy scars, it'll show a Dark Mark. We can do that for each of our marks, if that's what you're worried about."

"No. We know He's got many followers that aren't marked. If I can see the background information, we can work it from there," Arthur replied. "Now, what do you want in return?"

"Revenge. I want Lucius Bloody Malfoy's dick fed to him before he dies by my hand. I want his little Death Nibbler brat son's testicles as my earrings. I want Narcissa Malfoy's perfect face shattered and for her to drown in her own blood. They ruined my family, they took my family from me. I want to take theirs from them. It may not have been what Percy would have wanted, but its what I want."

"Are you sure you can live with doing something like that?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know, Pop. All I know is that right this second, I don't think I can live without it," Penelope said, wiping the unshed tears from her eyes.

The Weasley males looked at each other, saying nothing. As Arthur's eyes met with each of his children's he saw acceptance of the newest person in the family. "Welcome to the family business, Penelope."

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	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people. Good enough?

The Return of the Gray Ghost

Part II

The next two weeks proceeded apparently as those prior to Penelope's meeting with what they were now terming the Gray Ghost Support Group, with two exceptions. The first was that Molly was raving about Penelope's abilities at making chamomile tea. She claimed that it was the only thing that allowed her to sleep at night. Penelope was slowly weaning the distraught woman off the calming draught, but it was still helping her. Penelope felt that much of it was psychosomatic.

The second was that that Penelope had taken a job at the Ministry, continuing Percy's work – in more ways than one. Her official title was "Executive Administrative Assistant, Magical Transport Division, Floo Network Section." Her unofficial job duties were those of go-fer, tea-girl, and chimney sweep, and her unofficial title, according to Melinda Edgecombe, was "that Mudblood girl."

Penelope didn't mind, though. She had a list, and it was growing by leaps and bounds every day. 'Inbred pure-bloods,' she thought, 'are too stupid to realize that calling the Ravenclaw that handles their crooked sets of books names is not conducive to proper working relationships.'

Every evening before heading home from work, she would slip her diary and charmed duplication quills into her purse, and walk out with a copy of every shady transaction that happened in the department for the day. A lot of it was general graft that always runs rampant in a bureaucracy, twenty galleons trading hands to jump the scheduling queue to sometime in the current century for a hookup, another twenty for looking the other way when one of Dumbledore's portkeys were used without it being registered beforehand, minor things like that. When Julia Crabbe came in with ten thousand galleons, however, it set off alarms Helen Keller would not have failed to notice. No details were present on the accounting, of course, but a quick check of the work schedules showed that a maintenance shutdown had suddenly been put into the queue for that night.

The next time she was sent out for tea, Penelope lofted an airplane note to her father-in-law to meet her for lunch, and to see if the "Support Group" would be able to meet after work. After she returned to her office, she placed a quick floo call to Molly, informing her that Sharon Marchbanks, Amelia Bones' "friend," wanted to talk with her over dinner that evening. That might not have been the best thing to say to Molly.

"Penelope, dear. Are you sure that you want to be alone with that woman?" Molly asked.

"Yes, Mum. Why ever would I not be willing to discuss my loss with someone who is in much the same situation?"

"But dear... I'm not sure you would know about this, given your young age, but there has been talk about Sharon and Amelia..." Molly trailed off suggestively.

"You mean about them being lesbians?" Penelope asked, point blank.

"Dear! I mean, I would never say such a thing, but Rita Skeeter said that they had a relationship, even before dear, sweet, gullible Edgar passed on."

Penelope had heard from Pop just how much fun "dear, sweet, gullible Edgar" had gotten up to with his wife and her "friend." If the Death Eaters hadn't taken him out, he'd have died with a smile on his face from a terminally sore willy. If the two wanted to continue their relationship in a manner similar to how they had with Edgar while he was alive, Penelope knew that Edgar had been happy for them both. But she couldn't let this slide.

"Mum, are you still believing the poison that harpy Skeeter is spewing? You know what she's like. If she gets it in her head that something will sell papers, that's what goes on the front page. That whole 'outing' episode came around because she was tipsy and propositioned Amelia one night, and Amelia laughed in her face." Penelope replied heatedly.

"W...Wh... What?" Molly spluttered. "Wherever did you hear that?"

"From Sharon. She and Amelia were having a 'girls night out' at the time, which is where Rita got the ammunition for that article. But, since Rita never EXACTLY wrote that either of them were died-in-the-wool carpet munchers; they couldn't bring her up in court. That's how Skeeter makes her living. Lies, half-truths, and innuendo. Judging by the fact that she's in size 32 dresses that show off her cankles nowadays, I'd say she's pretty good at it, too. She knows just how far she can go without getting into a lawsuit. Anytime she gets too close, she shifts targets to someone that can't fight back for a while, like Potter or just about any Muggleborn."

"All right, dear," Molly sighed. "I'll give Sharon and Amelia the benefit of the doubt for you, if you'd like. But please be careful tonight, and make sure to come home in time to fix my tea for me, please? I just can't seem to sleep without having you safe at home." Molly smiled at her daughter in law as she said it.

Penelope felt like she was talking to a particularly slow-witted child, speaking to Molly. She loved the woman dearly, but logic and clear thinking were not something she was noted for. She was honest, straightforward, and fiercely protective of her family and its status. Unfortunately, she still thought that everyone else was honest and straightforward, especially those witches and wizards at the Daily Prophet. Even with the experiences of her so-called "adopted son," Harry Potter, to prove to her that the Prophet was simply a misspelling of "profit," she continued to believe every word that Skeeter and company printed. Maybe, just MAYBE, she'd be able to break her of that habit before she was sent to be with her beloved Percy.

After receiving a very short note from Arthur confirming lunch plans, Penelope sent another airplane off to Sharon Marchbanks to meet immediately following work for a walk from the Ministry to the 'Cauldron, so that she was not technically lying to Molly. 'Of course,' Penelope thought. 'Just because Rita happened to be correct in this particular instance didn't mean a thing about what she had told Molly. She and Sharon were both in mourning for their significant others, their best friends.' It would be perfectly natural for them to get together to talk on the way to destinations near each other. Besides, there's safety in numbers, and no one would think twice about what she might be up to tonight if she had someone to use as an alibi. If her coworkers thought the 'Halfblood Lipstick Lezzie' was hitting on the 'Bereaved Mudblood Bitch;' that was far better than the truth. The truth would either get her sent to Azkaban or killed before she had a chance to enact her revenge. Being thought of as the village bicycle was better than that. If playing that role would get her her earrings and end the Malfoy line, she was more than willing to pay that or any other price.

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Her meeting with Arthur was short and sweet, because Melinda wanted her lunch brought to her at precisely 12:20 that afternoon. She explained what had happened that morning while wolfing down a sandwich and a small order of chips.

"Are you sure it's not just routine maintenance at the Abbott's?"

"If it is, it came up awfully fast after Julia Crabbe came by. Normally we get at least a week's notice before something like a shutdown happens. I know the Abbott's haven't called in complaining about their service. A quick look at the matrix shows everything is fine from the Junction onto the Main Trunk. They aren't having any problems anywhere west of London. As it is, we won't even have a chance to send an owl out to Blackpool to let them know their service will be down tonight. It just doesn't add up, so something is going to happen, Pop. I know it is."

"All right. We'll meet at the twins' shop after dinner tonight and stake out Paul and Rosie's. Charlie needs a bit of a workout. He's getting too cocky from beating up on his brothers. Let's see what happens when he plays point in a real situation."

"Thank you, Pop."

"For what?"

"Believing me. Believing IN me. And for letting me believe in myself."

"You don't need to thank me, but you're very welcome, Penelope." Arthur replied. "Now get going. You have five minutes before the cow has a coronary."

Penelope chuckled at the thought of a Jersey cow with Melinda's face kicking all four hooves up in the air from a heart attack. "Later, Pop." She kissed him on the cheek and returned to work.

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After work, Penelope met with Sharon in the lobby, where they exited together and walked to the Leaky Cauldron for a bite to eat while having a bit of small talk. During their conversation, Sharon noted that when certain names came up, Penelope's eyes would turn to stone. After they finished their dinner, the pair departed for Muggle London together. After walking a couple of blocks, Penelope stepped into an alley, turned to Sharon and said, "Well, this is where I get off the beaten path. Thank you for having dinner with me."

Sharon looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You're using me as an alibi, aren't you?"

The blood drained from Penelope's face. She should have realized that the lover of an auror and politician for thirty years would be able to read situations and decipher motives as second nature. It was a mistake to underestimate this woman. 'Should have gone out to eat with Tonks. The changeling's natural hair color has to be blonde. Too late now. My alibi is going to be shot to shit.'

Sharon pressed her advantage. "Is it legal?"

Seeing her victim squirm, she grabbed Penelope's left sleeve and exposed her forearm. Penelope jerked her arm away and drew her wand with her right. Anger now replaced fear. "What are you doing, bitch? Do you really think that I of all people would be walking around with that bastard's tattoo on my arm? They fucking killed my HUSBAND! What I'm doing may not exactly be legal, but it's right. You have thirty seconds to convince me not to obliviate you and running the risk of some touchy questions down the road."

"Easy. easy... I had to check. It's a dangerous world nowadays, and you were acting very strange. I swear that as long as you're not out to kill Harry Potter or something stupid like that, you've still got your alibi. Four ninety-six alpha, twelve thirty three delta by sixty-eight zeta. It's my flat's apparation coordinates. If you decide not obliviate me, go there with me now, and then when I step into a different room, go do whatever it is you're doing. After that, come back. You can tell me or not, your choice. You just have to come back after you're done so that if I get hit with veritaserum, I can say that we left the Ministry, ate dinner, we went to my place and you left my flat that evening. Unless someone at the Ministry has grown a set of balls lately, no one will have the nerve to ask what we were doing there. Edgar put three hit wizards with big mouths in the Permanent Spell Damage ward thirty years ago for talking about the three of us out of turn. It hasn't been an issue since. Good enough?"

Penelope sighed. "All right. No, I'm not a defense professor, so I'm not trying to kill my almost-adopted brother-in-law. I'll trust you enough to go to your flat to get off the street here. We'll have a short conversation, and you will step into the loo. Later, I'll be back and you can see me leave. Thank you, Sharon. If it makes you feel better, I like you and I'd have really hated to have to mind-wipe you."

Sharon grinned wryly and said, "I like you too, kiddo, and I'd have hated to be mind-wiped. Let's go."

"Wait." Without another word, Penelope disillusioned herself, concentrated on the coordinates, and apparated away. As she arrived at her destination, she immediately dove to the front and left of her position, rolled twice and...

Slammed directly into the couch after landing wrong on some piece of breakable furniture. Sharon arrived just in time to see her coffee table turn to splinters and her couch relocate itself two feet closer to the wall than it was normally. "I see someone has trust issues," was all she could say before giving in to her need to snicker. The snickering turned into an laugh that had more than a bit of hysteria mixed in. "You remind me of Alastor the first time he came here," she managed to gasp out while finally getting her breath back.

Penelope remained disillusioned, more to hide her embarrassment than from thinking of possible dangers. "Well, let's just say that while I may not have been taught by Professor Moody, I had someone else drum 'Constant Vigilance' into my skull."

It was true. Arthur had been working with all of the kids to raise their abilities. Charlie may hold the current title of 'Gray Ghost,' but the rest of them were likely to be needed as a backup, and sometimes he might need to be seen in the same place as the 'Ghost. Arthur had said that last time his biggest problem had not really been the Death Eaters, but keeping the secret from Molly and the Headmaster's little group of friends. Dumbledore would become suspicious if Charlie was "busy" every time the 'Ghost was out and about, and might even turn him in to the aurors, just to guide him back to the Light, of course.

"Of course, Alastor was paranoid about the Sorting Hat wanting to look in his mind at Hogwarts," Sharon returned.

Penelope removed the spell and returned to sight. She then burst into giggles at the thought of a scarred; one legged eleven year old holding the hat at wand point. "I can't say I blame him. That Hat was a complete pervert. You should have seen the images it flashed at me when it was trying to figure out if I would fit into Hufflepuff."

"I did. Why do you think it put me in that house?" Sharon returned with a leer. "Now, what can you tell me about your activities for tonight?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. It is probably illegal, but it's not immoral. At least I don't think it is. I'm doing this for Percy's memory and myself. Is there going to be trouble? Yes. Without a doubt. Are people going to get hurt? You betcha. With luck it will be the Death Eaters that are doing all the hurting. No, I can't tell the aurors because I can list you an even dozen that are either out and out Death Eaters or at least Voldemort sympathizers, and there are probably a hundred others in the Ministry that could find out about it. I like breathing too much to allow that to happen. Now, that's probably more than I should have told you, but less than what you want to know."

Sharon frowned. "You're right on both counts. If you're going after those bastards, I'll alibi you, though. It's the least I can do. Just make sure you pop back here when you're done so that we can get the story straight, and BE CAREFUL. I wasn't kidding when I said I liked you, kiddo. You're smart and you have style. That said, I think it's time I started a bath water running."

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"Well guys, sorry I'm late. My alibi took a bit longer than I thought to set up," Penelope said as she arrived.

"Alibi?" Charlie questioned.

"Yes. As it is, I'm the only one of us that doesn't have one. Charlie, You're staying at Bill's flat. You were both home tonight, and can cover for each other. Arthur told Molly he was on the trail of a biting toilet seat, and his logbook will reflect a night of looking for one that he could get a sample of the magic from, but was on a wild goose chase. The twins are in the same boat as the two of you. I had to come up with a reason to get out of the house, and still be safe from prying eyes at the Ministry. Sharon figured out I was up to something, but is covering for me. After our little session tonight, I go back to her place, and she sees me leave. Then she can honestly say we left work, got supper, went to her place to talk, and I left after whatever goes down. Nice and airtight," Penelope smirked.

"Sharon?" Charlie asked. "The dyke Amelia was with?"

"Charles Emerson Weasley!" Penelope scolded. "Sharon is a nice lady that just lost a good friend! I doubt that you have proof of what their sex life was like, so I will thank you not to bring it up. Besides, even if she is a lesbian, it's not like anybody at work can think any less of me. As is, they will think what they want and continue to be blind to what I really am. And that works into my plans just perfectly," Penelope finished off he tirade with a devious grin.

Arthur chose that point to derail the conversation they were on and bring the meeting to its purpose. "Now, here's what's probably going to happen tonight. Abbott Manor in Blackpool will be attacked tonight. The floo is due to be shut down at eight, and be down for two hours for maintenance. That's the timeframe for the attack. It will be full dark by then, so it could happen at any time after eight, but I'm betting it will be at eight on the dot. Death Eaters don't strike me as the most patient of people. Here's how I see our part playing out…" He then went on to detail everyone's parts.

The twins then loaded everyone up with some the nastiest creations they had come up with. Charlie looked at one of the items in particular. "Fred? George? What's this?" He asked, holding what looked like three metal balls connected with five feet of piano wire.

The twins grinned at each other as Charlie held up one of their most brilliant ideas. "Oh. That?" Fred began.

"That's what we call a bola constrictor"

"Mark Two."

"Dumbledore thought the first version was too dangerous to use, as the ropes might crush bones and hurt his 'breeding stock' as it began to squeeze the victim."

"We saw the error of our ways, though."

"He was right, though. Even you must admit that, little brother."

"By four and a half minutes. Yes, I agree. I'm so glad we improved them." George looked back at Charlie with a feral grin. "Now it will cut right through the bones."

Charlie shook his head. "Where did you two come up with something like this?"

"Oh. Blame that on Bill."

"He was the one that told us about those gowcher people he saw in Argentina, and how they use something similar to catch cattle and to hunt with."

"Needless to say, Dumbledore forbid us to give these to anyone in the Order."

"Even Moody. So if we use these, we –"

"need to make sure no one else sees them, or he'll know we were in on tonight's festivities."

Bill grinned and shook his head at his little brothers. Trust them to take something as useful as a set of bolas and make them into a tool to cause mayhem. He'd never been prouder of them in his life. "You know guys, I've come across a few other things you might be interested in… improving later on. We'll talk about those later on, though. Now, the Death Eaters will probably have a standard three-man team and a few sappers to bring down the wards and put up their own anti-app and anti-portkey wards. Those three are going to have to keep up the chant unless they bring their own runestones, and I don't see them as being willing to go to the work of mapping and carving the stones just to do a quick and dirty job like this. They only need the wards for a short time to keep people in the house and away from the site until it's too late. Here's how I propose to put a kink in their plans. Guys, are these bolas self guided?"

"No"

"We've gotten quite good at throwing them, though."

" We even practiced on our brooms."

"Okay. You two will take out the two that are guarding the chanter. Penelope, you take the chanter himself. They have to go down fast and without anyone else finding out, or our asses will probably be in a sling. While you're doing that, the three of us will continue with Dad's plan. After you get them dealt with, you'll find us where the screams are. With a bit of luck, it'll be their screams, not ours."

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A series of pops would have been heard, if there had been anyone near the apparition point a quarter mile from Abbott manor. All six disillusioned Weasleys came in, dropped and rolled away from the point of entry and scouted the immediate area. Charlie, as the nominal leader while on the mission, cancelled the spell after he received five "Clear" reports. The clan quickly took up lookout posts to watch and wait for their chance to ambush the ambushers.

At eight ten, Penelope Weasley's spell-enhanced eyes winced as the area lit up with the heat signatures of twenty plus targets that appeared a short distance away. Penelope sent the agreed upon signal through the communication mirror the twins had provided, giving a brief thought to the conversation the 'Ghosts had had when they were introduced to the idea.

"Heard about it from Harry, we did."

"He told us about how Sirius had given one half of a set"

"to him and he never even thought to use it to talk to him."

"Well, after a short talk"

"rather long series of talks, really"

"with Remus, we came up with our version."

"But what do they do?" Penelope asked.

"They are a set of communication mirrors, Penelope."

"Modified to be used in a group."

"Instead of the original two way communication"

"that Sirius and James had"

"Ours will work for up to eight people."

"Does the Order know about these?" Arthur asked.

"Yup, but Dumbledore"

"Shot us down again,"

"said there were more than eight members"

"in the Order and didn't want to be seen as playing favorites."

"I don't think he's really interested"

"in our work, since we dropped out"

"of his precious school."

"Well," Bill chuckled. "His loss is our gain. How's it work?"

"Each of us is assigned either a corner or a cardinal point,"

"and then tap your point and then who you want to talk to."

"If you want to broadcast to all of the mirrors,"

"just tap the center. Then just talk."

"The person on the other side hears and sees you."

"Your mirror shows who your talking to. In their station."

"When you're done, double tap your own point and its back"

"to being a mirror again."

Penelope had cast a couple of charms on her mirror and was astounded at the number and complexity of enchantments on it. "You threw your OWLS, didn't you? You threw all of your grades at Hogwarts. You could have gotten at least E's, and probably O's in Transfiguration, Charms and Potions." she asked, shrewdly.

"Muggle Studies, Runes and Arithmancy too, Sis."

"And an O in DADA NEWTS, thanks to Harry."

"We're better than Alicia was in the DA,"

"and that's what she got."

"We've been found out, dear brother."

"But at least it was by a Weasley"

"so our secret is still safe. "

"Just don't tell Mum. We'd"

"never hear the end of it."

"I appear to be in the company of genius," Penelope said. She then grinned and said "Either that, or a couple of idiot savants."

The twins adopted looks of hurt before joining the rest of the family in their laughter. "At least Percy was smart enough to pick a girl that could get along with this family." The twins then hugged her from both sides.

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As she came back to the present, the twins met up with her on their brooms. She quickly unshrunk hers and joined them in the air.

"All right, Sis?" George asked.

"Yes. Just wool gathering. I won't let it happen again."

"Careful, Sis." Fred said. "We need our wits about us tonight. Now isn't the time for pre game jitters."

"I'm okay, guys. Thanks."

The three flew silently around the perimeter until they had spotted the warding crew. They then took up positions fifty feet up and behind the group to wait for their chance to strike. In a depressingly short period of time, they saw the wards collapse and most of the Death Eaters apparate away.

Fred and George began to swing the bolas above their heads as they dropped down on the remaining ward crew. When they were twenty feet away from their targets, they let fly. Fred's flew true and his target was shortened by a head. George was a bit high, wrapping around the man at mouth level. The weighted ends caused the piano wire to shear through the man's lower jaw and slice the carotid artery.

The Death Eater who had been chanting stopped as he was showered in blood. Before he had a chance to say anything, Penelope's stunner took him in the back. Penelope summoned the three Death Eater's wands, and pocketed them. Fred and George quickly transfigured their captive into a rock and pocketed him, with a mutter of "For later." The other two were changed into broken twigs. The three disillusioned themselves and headed for the distant manor.

They quickly caught up with Bill and Arthur, who were backing up Charlie from the air. Charlie was down on the ground, and was currently slipping up behind a group of five Death Eaters at the front of the manor house.

The man in gray tapped the centermost Death Eater on the shoulder and asked "Private party or can anybody dance?"

All five turned around at the sound of an unexpected voice. The ones on either end lost their heads as both twins bolas flew true to their targets. As the blood started to fountain, Charlie's steel-toed, dragon hide covered boot came up hard between his target's legs. The man went down, thinking that he would have preferred the Cruciatus curse to having his testicles forcibly relocated to his chest cavity. Vomit precluded his ability to speak, much less call out to his compatriots. Three stunners dropped the last two Death Eaters before they had a chance to say anything.

Charlie apparated into the house to inform the Abbotts that the anti-apparation wards were down and send them to safety. This left the rest of the group to secure their prisoners. Transfiguring the Death Eaters once more, the group returned to their initial apparation point to await Charlie's return.

George and Bill staked out the unconscious prisoners. Penelope vanished their clothing while removing their wands. Arthur had warned them all that Voldemort had the ability to call his Death Eaters to him with the Dark Mark, and that it acted as a portkey. As it was a part of their bodies, they could not be stripped of their way to escape. Fred and George got a wicked gleam in their eyes as they took the sticks they had transfigured earlier and quickly cast another spell on them. They then proceeded to insert the sticks roughly into their prisoners.

When Penelope, Bill and Arthur looked at them, they snickered as they told their family that they had booby trapped the sticks to revert to form when anyone casts a _finite_ or _rennervate_ spell on them. "Just in case they are recalled before we can get back to them." Penelope had an evil smile on her face as Arthur and Bill looked a bit green.

As they were finishing, Charlie returned to them. "Well, the Abbotts have left, and the Death Eaters are trying to figure out how to get a stone house to burn. I'm so glad our family keeps track of its bloodlines so our parents and grandparents weren't brothers and sisters. Now, do we deal with these four or try to take more of them out?"

"We start small. This is enough for now. We won't have time to get back to them before they give it up as a bad job. Let's start with McNair, here and see if he knows anything. Even if they don't figure out they can't burn the place down, Voldemort will be recalling them soon," Arthur replied.

The twins disabled the trap on one of their prisoners before joining the others out of his line of sight. Penelope conjured a quill and parchment, and then nodded to Charlie that she was ready. Charlie restored the Death Eater's consciousness. Walden McNair took one look at his captor and said, "I was under the Imperious curse."

"Oh please, and my name is Prince John, and I'm the rightful King of England. Tell me what I want to know, scum."

"Fuck you. The Dark Lord will chew you up and spit out you bones," McNair sneered.

"Perhaps. But you won't ever see it."

"Oh. Right. All you're going to do is turn me over to the Ministry. I know your kind. I won't even go to trial."

"Well, you're half right. You won't go trial, that's true. But you're not going to the Ministry. If you tell me what I want to know, you might be thankful."

"What, you'll let me go?"

"No, I'll give you a quick death."

"Do your worst. My Lord will flay your skin from your bones when he catches you."

"I thought you knew. Nobody can catch the Gray Ghost," Charlie replied.

McNair looked unsure for a moment, but tried to bluff. "You ain't the Ghost. He's either long dead or an old man by now. So quit playing dress up and let me go and I might just let you live."

"Ghosts never age, fool. I guess we do this the hard way. _Reducto_." McNair screamed as the curse removed his left foot at the ankle. "Give me names of all Death Eaters and sympathizers."

McNair looked up at Charlie and gasped, "Fuck you."

"_Reducto_." And McNair's right hand disappeared in a pink mist. "I can do this all night. Names, scum."

McNair started babbling. Penelope was scribbling furiously behind him. McNair was still naming names when the Dark Lord recalled their prisoners.

The Weasleys apparated back to Diagon Alley to discuss the battle and check the names gained from McNair. While Penelope was checking the names, Arthur, Charlie and Bill received a message from Dumbledore to meet him at Grimmauld Place. As they apparated out, Penelope finished her list, confirming several of the suspects she had, while adding another ten to it. Penelope hugged the twins, and with a whispered "Thank you," disillusioned herself and returned to Sharon's flat.

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Sharon walked back into the living room with two glasses of wine as Penelope was removing the disillusionment. "Care for a drink before you go?" Sharon asked.

"Thank you, Sharon. I'd like that." Penelope replied.

As they sipped their wine, Penelope developed the shakes. Sharon pulled her into a hug, whispering to her "it's just the adrenaline, dear. It will pass. You're back and okay, and none the worse for it." Finally, Penelope broke away from Sharon and ran to the loo to vomit.

Penelope tried to apologize when she returned to the living room, but Sharon was having none of it. "Nonsense, dear. Amelia and Edgar were the same way when they came back from a mission. It's a common reaction to the stress of a battle. Now, if you've washed up a bit, you need to get home to Molly before she gets suspicious."

Penelope nodded. She hugged Sharon tightly to her and whispered "Thank you, for everything."

"Think nothing of it, dear. Amelia and Edgar would want me to help you. Just drop me a note the next time you need me," she replied.

"I will." Penelope downed the last of the glass of wine, and apparated to the Burrow, ready to face Molly.

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"Oh, Penelope, dear! You're home! Arthur called and said he was going to be on a raid tonight, so he wouldn't be home until late." Molly said. Then, she too, a deep breath and started again. "I'm so sorry about what I said earlier about that nice Sharon. You were exactly right about that disgusting Skeeter woman. I should know better than to believe anything that woman writes." Molly gushed. Penelope thought that she must not have been the only one to have a bit of wine tonight.

"That's okay, Molly. I forgive you. I really don't know what her relationship with Madam Bones was, and I don't really care. All I know is that she knows what it's like to lose someone close to her, and she's willing to talk to me about it."

"Really, dear? So how did your evening with her go?"

"Well, we had a quick bite at the 'Cauldron and walked for a bit. Then we went to her flat and got to know each other, and talked about Percy, Amelia and Edgar. She tells me she still misses Edgar, and that Amelia did as well, right up until the end. She told me that she was certain Edgar and Amelia were waiting for her on the other side, but would be quite cross with her if she did anything to rush to join them." Penelope replied, thankful she had thought of the answer beforehand.

"Yes, they always were together. It would take a crowbar to get them apart back in the old days. I thought those two women would die when Edgar was murdered. It was just like I was when Fabian and Gideon…passed on." Molly sniffled. "And now… With Percy… I… I just…"

Molly broke into sobs. Penelope quickly gathered the older woman into her arms, comforting her. "Sshh… It's okay, Molly. It's okay. I know," she murmured, rubbing her back.

After she got the woman calmed a bit, she said, "Let's get you a nice cup of tea now, and get you up to bed."

Penelope laced her own tea with a bit of her calming potion tonight, as well. As soon as Molly was in bed, she went to her own bed and climbed in. "Percy, my love. It has begun." A single tear slipped from her eye to make its way to the bed sheets.

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In Scotland, Harry Potter was treated to a most disgusting vision.

Voldemort was upset. It seemed that four of his Death Eaters did not come back from a simple raid on some blood traitors, and four of them were stripped naked and stunned, and one of them appeared to be injured and babbling the names of his followers, while he rest not only failed in their mission to kill the blood traitors but didn't know what happened to his other followers!

"McNair! _Crucio_!"

Luckily for Walden, the effects of the spell forced him to expel the stick from his bowels. "What happened, McNair? And be quick. My patience is at an end."

"It was the Gray Ghost, My Lord. He caught us from behind while we were fighting the blood traitors, My Lord. There were a dozen of them in front of us and we didn't have a chance when he came up behind us."

"LIES! _CRUCIO_!"

McNair jerked for the next two minutes under the influence of the pain spell. "I swear, My Lord! He came upon us from behind! You can ask the others if you don't believe me!"

Voldemort waved a hand to awaken the three naked, stunned Death Eaters. All three bodies exploded as the twin's booby traps were engaged. For the three stunned victims, at least the pain was mercifully brief as the dead bodies were restored to full size while still inside their rectums. Voldemort and most of the inner circle was covered in gore, feces, and partially digested food.

Only Bellatrix' insane cackle could be heard for a full minute before Voldemort exploded into action, casting the Cruciatus curse on every Death Eater in attendance and driving Harry out of the vision.

After Harry vanished the vomit the vision had caused, he wrote everything down he could remember to give to the Headmaster in the morning. Maybe he would get lucky and find out what had happened that night, but he wasn't going to hold his breathe. So far, the Headmaster had treated him better than he had last year, but still refused to give him any real training or information about the war. 'It's almost like he wants me to fail,' Harry thought to himself with a sign.

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	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer:Character ain't mine. Hell, even the plot isn't really mine. I borrowed it from Rorschak's Blot and added a bit. About the only thing I think I can claim is the twin's toys.

The Return of the Gray Ghost

Part III

The next morning's issue of the Daily Prophet carried an interestingly fictitious report of the happenings of the night before, Penelope thought as she read the headline. '_Ministry Director injured in Death Eater Attack_,' indeed. So the bastard got away alive… She read on. '_Walden McNair, Director of the Ministry's Magical Creatures Department; was admitted to St. Mungo's for injuries received while foiling an attack on an undisclosed location in Blackpool. "I just feel sorry that my friends was tortured and killed before I could get them away from them bastards," Director McNair told reporters from his bed. The Director was showing definite signs of Cruciatus exposure that even this reporter could recognize, as well as several obvious injuries. Director McNair's healer stated his patient's status was serious, but not life threatening at this time, but refused to comment if this brave man would be able to return to work, or if he would be forced to retire from his beloved job at the Ministry. We here at the Daily Prophet know that you, our public, join us in wishing this brave man a speedy and full recovery._' Penny snorted into her tea as she read the article. 'Sure,' she thought. 'It isn't easy to swing an axe with only one hand.'

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While at work, Julia Crabbe limped back in this morning, completely ignored the 'Mudblood Bitch' and went directly to Melinda Edgecombe's office. Penny cursed as she failed to get one of the twin's extendible ears under the door before it was locked and silenced.

Half an hour later, Mrs. Crabbe stalked out of the office. When Melinda called for Penelope, she could tell her boss still had a bad case of the shakes as it took her three tries to order her lunch. Penelope stifled her grin until she was well away from the office.

As she was in the commissary picking up Melinda's lunch, Sharon came up beside her. And whispered, "Interesting article in the 'Prophet this morning, didn't you think?"

"Yes, a better piece of fiction would be hard to find," Penelope replied in the same low voice.

"So, I wonder how many of McNair's friends died last night in his heroic stance," Sharon asked.

"At least four and possibly seven." Penelope returned with a smirk. "It all depends on what happened at the after action report."

Sharon's eyebrows rose as she looked at the younger girl. "Care to drop by this evening and talk about it?"

Penelope correctly interpreted this as an offer to alibi her again tonight if needed. "Sorry, Sharon. I can't tonight, but I'll get with you later this week and let you know when."

"Okay. Anytime you need to talk, just let me know."

"Thanks, Sharon. You're a real friend." Penelope relied with a hug as she picked up Melinda's order and started back to her office.

Ted Dawlish, the rising star of the International Cooperation Department and brother of Senior Auror John Dawlish, saw the exchange from his seat, and had noticed them leaving together the night before.

As Penelope was passing his table, Ted snarked out "So the little Mudblood's going muff diving now, eh?"

Penelope spun around on him and glared at the man. "Why not? She's probably got more down there than you do!"

She stalked out the door to the laughter of the neighboring tables and Ted's fumbling to pull his wand. As he finally got his wand out, a hand dropped onto his shoulder and squeezed.

Arthur's voice was low and gravelly as Ted's arm went numb from the pressure point manipulation. "Penelope is a Weasley, the largest clan in Magical Britain. Her immediate family includes a curse breaker, a dragon handler, and two of the best pranksters in years. It also had three head boys and a head girl. The Dawlish clan is now down to yourself and your brother. You graduated last in your class, and John had to use most of the family inheritance to buy his way into the Academy because his DADA score was so low. That would be a good thing to remember when you think about what you were about to do."

Arthur had disappeared into the crowd by the time the white-faced man had a chance to pick up his wand and turn around.

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Penelope stopped by the twins' shop after work, and had to call Molly to let her know she was helping the twins close up before coming home for dinner. Molly agreed but told her to tell the boys that they were expected for dinner if they were drafting her.

Penelope helped Fred and George clean up from the busy day's work. While cleaning up the 'Personal Protection' room, she asked Fred about the article. "Well, I'm not too sure what to make of it, really. About the best I can make out is that he had to come up with something to tell them why he was obviously injured on the night of a Death Eater attack."

"I think he's also trying to set himself up as a hero to the masses and to the Ministry. If he can get more notoriety, if something happens to Scrimgeour, he'll be the leading contender." Penelope replied. "If he keeps living through the attacks, he'll be able to play it up as everything happening to save lives as his doing, and any Death Eater casualties as his doing."

"We'd better get Dad in on this tonight. He's got the Ministry experience to see if he can even do that."

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"I think you might be right, Penelope. With the number of people on Voldemort's payroll in the Wizengamot, if he can swing some the Neutrals, he can control the Ministry. Right now, the public is looking for someone to be seen as doing anything against Him, and if a Ministry employee is seen as a hero, if Scrimgeour is assassinated, he's a shoo-in."

"Looks like Mister McNair's going to have to have a little accident." Charlie growled.

"St. Mungo's says he's not going to be out for a few more days." Bill said.

"Time for a little planning." Penelope said, pulling out her book, some parchment and a quill. "The McNair household is just outside Nottingham…"

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A week later the night skies in Nottingham flared bright for a moment before the forest went pitch black. "Wards are down." Bill whispered into his mirror.

Six quiet pops was all that was heard as the team infiltrated what had been the domicile of the McNair's for the last twelve generations. They quickly spread out in pairs, searching for the occupants of the manor house. Ministry records showed that, other than he and his wife, there were also three house elves to be worried about. It would not do, after all, to be found by the Aurors breaking and entering the "esteemed Director's" house.

The elves were easily found. As soon as the group apparated in, they heard a pop and saw what appeared to be thee desiccated miniature corpses in grimy, rotted pillowcases standing in front of them informing the intruders that they were ordered to stop all uninvited entry. Three quick stunners put the poor elves out of the fight. Penelope felt sorry for the elves and made a note to get with that deranged little elf that was stalking her pseudo brother-in-law to see what could be done to help the little buggers.

After that, it was a small matter to find the master bedroom. "Well, now, Mister McNair." Charlie sneered through his mask. "It seems we were interrupted the other night."

"No!" McNair screamed. "I don't have anything else for you! Get away from me, you psycho!"

"Nothing else for me, Walden? But we had just gotten started the other night. Reducto." The nightstand with McNair's wand on it exploded, showering the cripple with splinters. "Now, I think we have enough names for the time being. Let's start in on finances."

As the night wore on, the Gray Ghost extracted every bit of information from his unwilling host, including the fact that McNair had come up with the idea to claim credit for breaking up the attack on the Abbotts all on his own when he came to in St. Mungo's. His story had come about from desperation to explain his injuries in the best possible light. The last thing he was asked to do before oblivion took his memories of the last fifty years was to give his elves clothing.

A timed portkey dropped his inert body into the St. Mungo's emergency receiving area at three in the morning. Other than splinters, there was nothing physically wrong with the man. After he was revived, it became apparent that Walden McNair would never leave the hospital again. Aurors found the portkey to be a small leather bag, which contained a little less than two galleons in sickles.

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At the Burrow, a tired Penelope drew a line through one of the names on a very long list.

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At Diagon Alley, the twins were involved in a best two out of three Rock Paper Scissors game of the highest stakes. With a whoop, after thirty-seven tries, Fred came out the winner. George grimaced as he took the potion and chugged it down. To say that Augusta Longbottom was surprised to find out that she was the new Executive Trustee of the "McNair Foundation for the Victims of War" the next morning would be an understatement.

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Penelope was not the only one to require a Pepper Up to get moving at work. It seemed that Madame Edgecombe was in an even fouler than normal mood. Quitting time couldn't come fast enough.

That afternoon, Penelope decided Evan Crosier would be the next logical person, given what had been said the previous night. While not supplying much in the way of financial aid to Voldemort, Crosier was passing on vital information. The Department of Mysteries was about to misplace one of its Unspeakables.

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For the next week, Penelope shadowed the Unspeakable. It finally came to a head ten days after McNair's "memory lapse." Penelope was following Crosier towards the Leaky Cauldron when he suddenly cut down a back alley. Suspecting a trap, Penelope looked around for witnesses, disillusioned herself, and then rolled across the entryway to the alley, dodging two fast curses as she did so.

It took three tries to nail Crosier and his unknown partner, but they finally went down. Penelope was gasping for breath from the bludgeoner that had caught her a glancing blow. Notice-me-not and silencing charms were already in place, thanks to the ambushers. Stunning Crosier's accomplice a second time for good measure, Penelope spelled the Unspeakable-turned-muggle-raping-Death Eater-turned-victim upside down with a flick of her wand before searching him and finally awakening him.

The first things the Death Eater saw were two gray-clad legs. Looking down, he saw a gray cloak and mask, framed by blue sky. While this was cogitating, he realized the pounding in his ears had to be his hammering pulse, as the blood was fighting to return to his heart. Ergo, the Gray Ghost was holding him suspended in the air. If he hadn't been upside down, he would have paled at the prospect.

"W—What do you want?" He asked plaintively.

After a silent spell to disguise her voice, a gravelly bass answered. "Me? Not much. I'm just cleaning up the gene pool. Now, you can make this easy, or hard. Start naming names."

"I can't do that! The Dark Lord would kill me!"

"Ah, but you fail to realize something. You see, I'll kill you if you don't; and He's not here. _I am_."

Faced with a possible death later on or a sure fire death now, Evan Crosier took the better part of valor and began to sing. The dictation quill behind him took down every word. When he was done, Penelope looked at the wreck of a man critically before conjuring a cricket bat. Three strikes from the bat ensured the man would never walk again, nor would the rapist's equipment be of any threat to another human being. Three more ensured the same of his partner. The last thing Penelope did was to obliviate both men back to first year at Hogwarts.

Penelope was at home fixing Molly and herself tea when word of the vicious attack on the "upstanding Unspeakable and his good friend " was mentioned on the WWN. It appeared the Aurors were questioning the hag that found the men, trying to find out if she knew what had happened to them.

After her tea, Penny went out to the shed and made two more lines across her parchment and added to the growing list of possible supporters needing to be researched.

She was just finishing up her work when Arthur stormed into the shed.

"What the hell happened this afternoon?" a very red faced Arthur demanded.

"What do you mean, 'what happened,' Arthur? I saw an opportunity, and I took it." Penelope replied. "I tracked Crosier, I waited, screwed up his pitiful ambush, took him down and pumped both him and his baby raping friend full of Veritaserum and bled them dry. After that, I broke their legs, busted their laughable equipment, and wiped the last forty years from their minds. Were you going to say that they didn't deserve it? Or that-"

"What? No, Damn it! You went out without a backup! We aren't playing Silly Buggers here, Penny! These people want to kill us! You said yourself they were trying to ambush you. I don't want you going in without a backup."

"Oh. You're upset because I didn't have a tag-along, eh? Why? Because I'm a girl?" Penny asked, snidely.

"What?" Arthur asked, confused at this attack. "No! I don't want any of you kids doing this without a backup." Arthur slapped his hand to his face and pulled down slowly, trying to get his emotions in check.

"Sit down, please, Penny." Arthur said, pulling out a chair and doing so himself. He took a deep breath and tried again. "No, it's not because you are a girl, or that I think any less of you than one of the boys. I know you can hold your own with any one of us, and your talents at data gathering and correlation is far beyond any of ours. I don't want you going in without a backup because we ALL need to have a backup when we go into that sort of situation. You are worth ten – no, a hundred - of those bastards to all of us, Molly included. We love you just as if you were one of our own kids, Penny. We love you just as much as Bill, or Charlie, or even Harry and Hermione. All of you are our kids. We've lost Percy, and we don't want to lose any more. I'm not saying you can't go on missions, Penny. I'm just saying that you need someone you trust to have your back when you do it."

"You never had backup when you were the Gray Ghost." Penny mumbled, knowing full well she was going to lose this fight, but had to play it out to the end. As Percy would have said, she 'wouldn't be a Weasley if she wasn't stubborn.'

Arthur sighed. The reasons he had set foot on this path twenty years ago were evident every time he looked at his best friend at Christmas. Molly would hang two small ornaments on the tree with tears in her eyes. The ornaments that had been given to her by Fabian and Gideon. "I know, Penny. I did what I had to do at the time because I had no family I could trust to watch my back. Charlie and Bill weren't even in Hogwarts yet, Molly was a wreck, and Auntie Muriel was watching all three of them. If I had had my choice, Gid and Fabe would have been there every step of the way. Unfortunately, they were the reason I was doing it in the first place.

"I almost died a dozen times over when I was the Gray Ghost. I went to work and brewed healing potions in the bottom drawer of my desk to keep Molly from finding out.

"You don't have to do it alone, Penelope. We are family. We love you and will always have your back. We might not always agree with you, and we might try to talk you out of something stupid, but we will always back your play.

"Besides," Arthur grinned. "What would Molly do without her tea every night if you got into a situation you didn't come home from?"

"Okay, Pop. You win. No more hogging all the fun." Penelope said, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "I guess it was pretty stupid going out on a job by myself."

"I prefer to think of this as a learning experience for you," Arthur said. "Now, young lady, what did you learn?"

"Hmm… You like Harry and Hermione as much as you like me?" Penelope answered with a grin.

Undeterred, Arthur asked "And?"

Penelope sobered and said "My family loves me for me and will kill me the next time I go out on a job without a backup."

"Well, perhaps not _kill_, but we will let the twins use you for a test subject for some of their new inventions for the store." Arthur said with a smile as he swept her into a fatherly hug.

OooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo


End file.
